Runaway Gays
by genderlessdemon
Summary: Gordie Lachance and Chris Chambers might want to be more just best friends. How will they react? How will the town react? It's more than just a love story. There is adventure, danger, death, and so much more. What will happen when they decide to become more than friends?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Gordie

"Gordie, can you come over, now please?" Chris asked over the phone.

"Yeah, of course, what's up?"

"I can't explain now, just come over here."

So I ran over to Chris' house on a freezing cold night January without a second thought (or shoes). I would do it for any of my friends. Even if we hadn't had a real conversation in over two years. Of course, there would be several questions for the other boys. I thought about what it could be the entire way over. I eventually decided that it had something to do with his dad. You see, he had been drinking again, and it was a lot more than normal too.

When I arrived at Chris' house, he thought it would be best to go through his window just in case his dad was the problem. I climbed up the drainpipe and pounded my fist against the window. Chris opened the window and started to climb down.

"What the hell are you doing man, I just about fell off the side of the house," I said.

"I got to get out of here, Gordie. I can't take it no more."

"Hey man, it'll be okay. Let's go back to my house for tonight, but after that, we are leaving for good. You got me? For good." I replied.

"What about Teddy and Vern? Are we just going to leave them?"

"We'll go over to Vern's tomorrow before we leave, and we'll bring Teddy along with. When we get there, we'll see what they think about the plan, and if they don't go, they don't go. We're leaving with or without them. Besides, we don't really talk to them anymore anyway, so it's not that big a deal if they don't go."

They started walking back to Gordie's house in the brisk air. They were silent the entire trip. Gordie thought about asking Chris about his dad, but decided against it. I hadn't noticed before, but he had a black eye, not a major injury, but noticeable. When we got there, Chris and I went through the back door, so my dad wouldn't see us. He was asleep in the La Z boy again, like he was a lot lately. We tiptoed around him and up the stairs, thinking we didn't wake him up. We were wrong. When Chris and I got to my room, they heard loud footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Chris, get under the bed! He won't want to find you here." I whispered.

"What are you doing out of bed at this time of day, Gordie?" My dad yelled.

"I-I was thirsty, so I was going to get a glass of water, but I was afraid I would wake you up so I came back up here."

"How's that Chambers boy these days?"

"Like you actually care about him. You never liked him. He's not like the rest of his family. You don't know him."

"Why don't you tell him to get out from under your bed, then. Okay?"

"How did you know he was there?"

"I can see his hands from here."

Chris slowly got out from underneath my bed, and looked at him. He looked strong, ready to fight, but I knew that deep down, he was terrified. Not that my dad knew how to fight. At least not well. He hadn't hit me since I was three years old, and now he was about to beat the crap out of my best friend. Chris stood up, and walked over to My dad. They both looked ready to fight, and I guess they both knew it would happen. My dad cocked his fist, and just as he swung, I stepped in front of Chris, letting my father hit me harder than I've ever been hit before. I started bleeding out of my mouth, onto my hand and the floor. I tried to ignore the pain, but I couldn't. I felt a tear forming in the corner of my eye, but I didn't bother wiping it away.

"Stop crying you little fag," My dad said. I should really stop calling him that. He's never been there for me. Denny was always the favorite. I've known that for a long time. Hell, everyone in this town knew that. And the sad thing, not that he hit me, not that he called me a fag, (I've always known what he thinks of me), No, the sad thing is that he didn't care that he hit me. He almost seemed to enjoy it, like he's been waiting to hit me for a long time, and finally got the opportunity. I stopped crying immediately.

"Let's go Chris. Let's get out of here." I said calmly,

Chris stared Mr. Lachance dead in the eyes, and whispered something that I couldn't hear from the window. I didn't ask what he said to him, and I really didn't care at that point.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Gordie

The only safe place we could think to go was the old junkyard. At least until 3:00 when it opened. We didn't want Milo beating our asses for being there again. We'd gone twice after we went to see the dead body, and it didn't end well.

We went to the same spot that we did on the Ray Brower quest, remembering that summer.

"Why did you need me to come over so badly?" I asked him.

"It's my dad. He's on a mean streak again, but it's worse this time. He broke eyeball's arm last night. I was afraid to say anything about it so I just stayed in my room. Then he hit my mom. He's never done that before, and I figured I was next and I had to get out of there."

The next morning at around 10:00, we went to the old campsite we had stayed at all those years ago. We were leaning against the tree, talking about nonsense. The river was right there so we figured that it would be best to stay here for a while. More than a day at least. I had dropped the bag of food on the way there, so I went back down the trail to look for it. It wasn't far, and it only took about twenty minutes there and back.

I saw Chris through the thick brush. At first I wasn't sure what he was doing, but then it was clear. He ripped his shirt off, looking around to make sure nothing was looking at him, then, to my surprise, he unbuckled his belt, and took of his pants and boxers.I looked away, hoping not to see anything. Thankfully, he was just changing clothes and nothing else. I was kind of jealous of his muscle. He had abs, and I didn't. Of course, he did work out more than I did. It was safe to look now, so I walked over to the campsite to see what his reaction would be.

He looked at me as though nothing had happened, but I could see that his face was a little pink, it made me smile a little bit. I just didn't know why.

"How long are we gonna stay here d'ya think?" he asked.

"I dunno, how long do you want to stay here?"

"I dunno, it's pretty boring with just your face to look at shithead." He smiled so I knew he was just kidding.

"Look who's talking, asshole." I smiled back at him.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Gordie

It got dark soon after that, so we made an effort to sleep. I didn't and I don't think he did either. I was thinking about what had happened earlier by the river. I thought about it a lot. Eventually I realized I wasn't jealous of him, I was jealous because I couldn't have him. I mean, he did run away with me, but not in the way you're thinking. Not in the way I thought I wanted. I had to stop thinking about Chris in that way. He's my best friend, I can't. Besides, I ain't no fag, I don't care what my dad says.

"Hey Gordie?" I was startled by him breaking the silence.

"Yeah?"

"You didn't, see anything when I was, you know, by the river?"

"N-No, I didn't see anything."

"Seriously, Gordie, did you see anything?"

"Maybe just a little. Not a lot, I swear, but, I saw a little."

"I knew it! I never should have done that. My clothes weren't even that dirty. I just wanted to forget about my dad. With my blood all over that shirt it felt like i couldn't get away from him, because he's the reason I'm always so fucked up, you know?"

"Yeah, I know." We were silent for a moment after that.

"Hey man, I never thanked you. For taking that punch for me. I didn't really understand what had happened until I saw you bleeding. Thank you."

"Don't worry about it, man. I'd do it for any of the old gang, you know that."

"No, i'm going to worry about it, because you wouldn't do that for anyone else." Chris sighed. " When I was changing by the river, I knew you'd be back soon, and I was kind of-" he stopped for a moment, preparing for what he was going to say next. "I was secretly hoping that- that you did see me." he turned to me, hoping for any kind of response. After I had disappointed him, he said quietly, "Just forget it, Gordie, forget I told you anything, okay? You have to promise that you'll never tell a soul about this though, you hear me? Or i'll beat the shit out of you."

I knew he wasn't kidding. He did it to Teddy a long time ago when he overheard him saying something a few years ago. Teddy was blue and purple for days. After that, nobody outside of our gang messed with Chris Chambers again. Until just about a week after we ran away, that is. I'll get to that part of the story later, though.

"I promise."

The next morning Chris acted like the whole thing never even happened. I wanted to talk about it, but he seemed pretty upset that I didn't answer him. Chris went out to get some more firewood, so I let him have his space and stayed at the campsite by myself.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Chris

I was out getting firewood, thinking about last night. Why hadn't Gordie responded to me? I couldn't see his expression in the dark, but I knew it wasn't good. I had been having those thoughts a lot at that time, and I had no idea why. I figured it was just hormones or something. I started walking towards the train tracks, hoping there would be more firewood over there, but I had no such luck. I could see Gordie through the trees, and I could feel his eyes burning into my back. I stepped onto the tracks, still looking for sticks. I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't even hear Gordie shouting.

"Train! Chris, get off the tracks, there's a train!" He was screaming his little lungs out. I didn't hear him and continued to walk down the tracks. "Get off of the god damned tracks, Chris, do you want to freaking die?!" Just then, as the train got closer, Gordie ran as fast as he could, and tackled me off the tracks and we rolled into the ditch just as the train passed where I was standing.

"What the hell man? Why didn't you get off the tracks? What's wrong with you?" He was shouting at me.

What's wrong with you? The words were ringing in my ears. What was wrong with me? I didn't know what to say. I tried to say something, anything at all, but nothing happened. Well, one thing happened. To this day, I still don't know why I did it, but I felt like I had to do something. So I kissed him. I kissed Gordie like I had never kissed anyone in my life. His lips tasted like sweat, dirt, and blood, and they were very chapped, but I enjoyed every second of it. I loved him, but I wasn't in love with him, not yet anyways.

I felt him start to kiss me back, only for a second, but it happened. Then he pulled away, and stared at me. "Oh. That's why." He whispered softly. I didn't know what to do next, so I got up, and took the wood back to the fire pit. We didn't do anything for the rest of the day. We just sat in silence, making awkward eye contact every few minutes or so. I wanted to kiss him again. But I knew it was wrong. My entire life, i'd been taught that being gay is wrong, but that day, I was starting to think otherwise. I didn't think I was gay, not at all. I thought it was terrible and wrong, and not at all who I was. I didn't know who I was at all, but I knew I wasn't no faggot. That's one thing I knew for sure.

Gordie

I still didn't know entirely how I felt about the kiss. I know I liked it. A lot. More than I should have. But then I wasn't so sure what it meant.

"Hey Chris, remember when we found Ray Brower's body?"

"Yeah, all of us do. Why do you ask?"

"Do you remember when I had that dream about Denny's funeral?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I had that dream again. I know it's been three years, but I still think about him all the time. How my dad liked him better, and how he wished I was more like him. He wants you guys to be more like his friends. It's like he never cared about me at all." I paused. "Maybe it should have been me who died, not Denny.-"

"What the hell are you talking about? Don't say that! Hell no, it shouldn't have been you. It shouldn't have been Denny either. Why would you think that?"

"Think about it. My dad sure would be happier. My mom too. Denny would be sad for a while, but he'd get over it. You guys would definitely be better off. I just brought you guys down."

"Gordie, man we'd be lost without you here! What are you talking about?"

"Everyone loved Denny, but nobody even knew my name. They all called me 'Denny's brother' or 'the little Lachance kid.' Sometimes my dad even forgot it. I mean every parent mixes up their kids' names, but he honest to God forgot my name. Everybody hates me. What's the point?"

"Don't say that Gordie. You know that's not true. Your mom doesn't hate you, or Teddy, or Vern. You've got lots of friends and people that care about you. I sure as hell don't hate you, so don't you dare say that nobody loves you because I do!" Then he kissed me. Harder than last time, even. This time, instead of pulling away, I kissed him back. For more than a second, that is. We kissed for a lot longer than last time, but after we realized what we were doing, and who we were doing it with. We stopped for a few seconds to think about what had happened.

We decided that since nobody else was there to see it, we could keep doing it, for a little while at least. So we continued on doing what we were doing. He gripped my waist with extreme force, so much that it bruised, but I didn't care. Until we heard two voices.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Gordie

"What the hell is this? My little brother, a fucking faggot?! Now wait until my dad finds out about this! He's gonna beat your ass! I mean, after I do."

"And it's with the Lachance kid too!"

It was Ace and Eyeball walking up to the campsite. We were both terrified at that moment. We stopped kissing and stepped away from each other immediately, staring them both in the face.

"W-What do you want, Ace?" I asked.

"Well, I was just showing a few new Cobras where we found that dead kid three years ago. Did you really think I forgot what I told you? I said I'd get you back and I meant it." He said it with a huge grin on his face.

"What are you gonna do to us?" Asked Chris.

"Well, we could tell all of Castle Rock about your little make out session. But i'm thinking we do something a little different. How about we just shoot one of 'em? What do you say, Ace?" Said Eyeball.

"Which one though, that seems to be the question, doesn't it?"

They were walking in circles around us trying to decide which one of us to shoot. I didn't think they would actually do it, and neither did Chris. Either one of us got shot, or we were outed to the entire town, and shunned forever.

"Hey, Eyeball, how much do you care if your brother dies?" Ace asked.

"I wouldn't miss him too much, nobody would really care if either of them died, would they? So why not just shoot both of them?"

"Now that might just be the best idea you've had all day, Eyeball. I like that plan much better."

Then, Ace pulled out his gun, turned to us, and pulled the trigger.

"Gordie!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as I ran in front of him. At first I didn't know if I had saved him or not, but then I felt it. There was a blinding pain in my left shoulder. I could barely even stand it. "ARGHHHHHH!" I screamed almost as loud as i did before. I couldn't help it, and I started crying, and In front of my own brother too. I just knew that I would get pounded if I lived through this pain. Gordie immediately rushed to my side, trying to stop the blood.

"Holy shit man! What did we do? Why did we do that?! Holy shit! Holy shit!" Eyeball was pacing back and forth gripping his hair, and even pulling some of it out. I thought he was going crazy. Eyeball Chambers was going crazy because his little brother go shot. I never would have imagined that in a million years.

"shit, man let's go!" Ace yelled.

"No! Nobody's leaving. Not now. Not until we know that Chris will be okay Damn it." Gordie said with tears streaming down his face. "We're going to take Chris back to Castle Rock, where we can get him fixed. Then, you guys are going to tell the fake story about a hunter who thought he was a deer. You will never tell anyone about what you saw here, or we will tell everyone the truth about how Ace almost killed Chris Chambers. You got that?"

I had never heard Gordie sound more confident than he did right there. That's the last thing I remember hearing before everything went dark.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Gordie

"We need to leave now, did you bring your truck?" I asked as I picked up Chris and wrapped his good arm around my shoulders and started walking towards the road. I was surprised that I could carry him considering how little strength I had. I guess it was sort of like when a mother's child is in danger, and she is suddenly able to lift a car or a boulder to save her child.

"Yeah, just take him in the back, I guess."

We were driving down the road at about 95 mph, and not slowing down even at stop signs. I was using an old T-shirt to soak up all the blood. There was more than I had ever seen in my entire life. I was sobbing the entire way to the hospital, and I didn't think Chris would make it. We were further out of town than I had realized. I wiped the tears from my face, forgetting about my swollen jaw.

"Chris? Chris? Hey, You're going to be alright, okay? You are going to be fine. We're going to get you to the hospital, and the doctors are going to fix you. You aren't going to die not now. I won't let you die, Chris. You're my best friend, Chris. I can't imagine not having you here. I love you, man. I love you."

I was crying harder than I ever had before. The thought of not having my best friend, I couldn't imagine it. I didn't want to imagine it. I had never told anyone outside of the family that I loved them before now.

"Hey, Lachance! We're here, get out of the car." Yelled Ace.

I carried Chris into the building while Ace and Eyeball explained what had happened. He had gotten a little bit lighter from the blood loss, and I was getting even more afraid that he wouldn't make it. The doctors admitted him immediately, and started surgery. They said that he might need blood from someone else to recover from all that he lost, and Eyeball was the only one who could do it.

I thought I would have to convince him or bribe him to do it, but to my surprise, he agreed to it without even thinking. I still hadn't stopped crying, and I thought about what Denny would do. He would calm me down, and tell me everything would be okay, even if he didn't make it. Denny was always really good at that. Chris was the one who did it the most, and I didn't think I would ever get over it if he died. Teddy, Vern and i didn't talk much after the summer of the Ray Brower quest. Chris was the only friend I had left.

Just then, the doctor came out of the room. I couldn't make out her facial expression, but I could sense it wasn't good news.

"Chris Chambers will be here for several days before we know anything for sure. He lost a lot of blood, and the bullet exploded on impact. That means there are shards of the bullet spread out around his chest. There is a very high chance that he will not live through this."

"Hey, Ace?"

"What?"

"You know i'm still never gonna forgive you right? Ever."

"Yeah kid, I know. And I couldn't care less. I never liked you anyway. It's not my fault your little boyfriend jumped in front of you. It should have been you."

I had had enough of his shit. I got up from the chair, and punched Ace in the face. He held his hand up to his nose, and stared at the blood on his fingers. He chuckled, and then swung at me. He hit me right in the eye. He grabbed me by my neck and dragged me outside to the concrete and said, "You're dead, Lachance."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Gordie

I stayed in the hospital waiting room all that night. It was cold, and I thought they would kick me out, tell me to go home, but they simply called my parents and told them I was here, and nothing else. They arrived about twenty minutes after the phone call, and when they saw me with a black eye and a bruised jaw, with fresh blood still dripping from my nose, they acted like they were worried about me. I knew my mom was, but my dad was totally faking it because we were in front of doctors and nurses and he wanted to make a good impression.

I got lots of questions from them like, 'where were you?' and 'what happened, why are you in the hospital?' and 'why did you run away?' then I got several comments like, 'We were worried sick about you!' and ' you should have told us where you were going,' and lots of things like that. I also got several smacks to the head, followed by lots of hugs from my mother.

"We are taking you home right now! Get in the car, you are grounded for longer than you've been alive!" Shouted my mother.

"What about Chris? I have to visit him when I'm allowed. Besides, I don't even want to go home. You know what this is from? Huh?" I pointed to my swollen jaw. "That's from my father. He was gonna beat the shit out of Chris, but he hit me instead, and then he called me a little faggot! What do you think of your asshole husband now, mom?" she wanted to react, but didn't. It confuses me still to this day.

"How dare you talk about me like that! I am your father, and you will respect me damn it!"

Then he grabbed me by the ear and shoved me into the car. I wanted to be back at the hospital with Chris. I decided to run right back after dinner and stay there for any updates.

"Can I help you, sir?" The lady at the front desk asked politely.

"Are there any updates on what happened to Christopher Chambers?"

"I can't tell you that unless you fill out this form, it's policy."

I took the form, and answered all of the stupid questions on it. Why are you here? How do you know the patient? How old are you? It was all bullshit, but I answered it anyway and stayed in the waiting room for Chris.

End of Chapter 7

Sorry about the short chapter, the next one will be longer:)


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Chris

I guess something happened during the surgery that made me wake up to a doctor pulling a piece of metal out of my shoulder. I screamed louder than I ever have, but didn't cry. I felt like crying, but no tears came. I was just screaming. The doctors started freaking out, stopping the blood that started pouring out of me. They put me under again, and that time it worked. I never forgot how that felt.

Because I woke up, the surgery took even longer, but when it was over, they wouldn't let me see Gordie for three days. When he finally walked in, his face was all beaten up. I'm sure it was probably nothing, but I felt the need to ask.

"What the hell happened to you, Gordo?"

"It was just Ace, don't worry about it. Are you okay? I heard you screaming from the waiting room down the hall from here during your surgery. What happened? I thought they put you asleep for that."

"I woke up, that's it. Well, I also started bleeding like a waterfall, but that's under control now." I said with a smile so he wouldn't be worried.

"I can bring you your homework and stuff and we can study together, so you aren't behind when you go back to school. Is that cool with you?"

"Yeah, I would like that."

"Hey, Gordo? I heard what you said, in the truck. I love you too, man."

He looked really embarrassed about it, stuttered something and then left. I was kind of sad, but we could talk about it tomorrow.

Gordie came over every day after school for the next week and a half, until I got out of the hospital. We talked about other stuff too, but we mostly did homework. It was nice, only talking to him and nurses for a while. Gordie was the best. I eventually got out of the hospital, and I felt mostly better. My dad didn't care that I got shot. He held off hitting me in the chest/shoulder area for a while, but mostly, he just treated me the same.

I went to his house one night, and threw two rocks at his window. When he didn't answer, I tried shouting his name a couple of times. He still didn't answer. I climbed the drainpipe and opened the window myself. He wasn't in his room at all. After about five minutes, I decided to check Denny's old room. Gordie was lying on the floor in a pool of blood and tears. It couldn't have been because of his dad because his parents were away for the week visiting his great aunt in Missouri.

"Gordie?" I asked calmly.

"I killed him. I killed him Chris. I'm so sorry, I killed him. I didn't mean to, but he came towards me and It was in my hand and I killed him," his voice was barely above a whisper, and I could hardly make out the words through all the tears.

"Who, Gordie, who did you kill?" I was starting to tear up now. I couldn't help it.

"Ace, I killed Ace."

"Are you okay, what happened?"

"He told everyone, Chris. About us. He told because he knew he would get something out of it. He wanted to kill me. He's wanted me gone for a long time, you know. He said it should have been me that got shot, and that I was too weak to handle it and I would have died, and it's probably true, too. He broke in, and he had a gun. I had Denny's knife, and he came closer, and it just happened. I'm a murderer, Chris. Now we're both gonna get run out of town because everyone knows about us, and it's just going to get worse from here." that's when I noticed Ace's lifeless body on the ground, blood coming out of his stomach. Gordie's hands were bright red with his blood.

I walked over to him, and I held him in my arms. "It's going to be alright, Gordie, I promise you. Everything is going to be just fine."

We stayed there for a long time, until Gordie was ready to stand up. I walked him to the bathroom so he could wash his hands and face. He looked at himself in the mirror, almost like he was scared of himself. He didn't say anything for a long time. Not when we cleaned up all the blood from Denny's carpet, not when we buried the body, or while I buried the body and he stared into space, not when we were eating dinner, or while I was eating dinner and he stared into space. That's all he did that day. He stopped eating, he stopped sleeping, he stopped doing everything.

His parents had to stay in Missouri for another week because of his aunt. I think she was going crazy or something and they had to make sure she was okay. I stayed with him as often as possible. I asked Teddy and Vern if they could pick up our homework from school. I knew I hadn't talked to them in a while, so I invited them to Gordie's house so I could tell them what had happened. I knew Gordie wouldn't want to. Teddy and Vern came over around 3:45 the next afternoon with the homework.

"So why weren't you two at school today? Were you just sucking face the whole time?" asked Teddy sarcastically.

"You guys have to promise you won't say anything about this, you hear me? Nothing. This is serious."

"yeah , we swear, Chris." said Vern.

"Gordie killed Ace Merrill last night. He hasn't said or done anything since, so try not to be so hard on him for a while, okay?"

"Wow! He really did it? How did he kill him? Why did he kill him? Where did you bury the body? How long did it take for him to die?" Teddy was very enthusiastic about his questions.

"He stabbed him in the stomach and he eventually bled out, I don't know how long it took. He killed him because he told everyone in the town that he was gay, and he had a gun on him. He was going to kill Gordie. I buried the body in the woods by the railroad tracks, so no one would find him for a while."

"Is Gordie gonna go to jail?"

"I hope not, Verno, and I'll do anything to make sure he doesn't get blamed for this. Hell, i'll even say it was me who killed him if I need to."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Gordie

I didn't want to think about anything. I didn't want to do anything. I didn't think I could ever forgive myself. I listened to everything Chris said, and I even let him take me out of my house. I tried to help him with his homework, but I couldn't do much before my thoughts took over again. I didn't talk for an entire week. Chris convinced me to eat something once and a while. I was never hungry, but I ate it anyway just to make Chris stop nagging me. When he could tell I was extra down, he would just hold me, and kiss my forehead, and sometimes we would just make out for a while until I felt better. I loved him so much.

When my parents got back I knew I had to act normal again. I told them I was sick the whole time they were gone, but they didn't seem to care. They still didn't know that I was gay, and I figured they should find out from me, and not from some random person calling their son a fag. I sat them down at the kitchen table, mentally preparing myself to get hided afterwards.

"What's wrong dear?" my mother was pretending to care about me again.

I kept thinking about my parents kicking me out, or hitting me, or disowning me. I'd be alone for the rest of my life. I felt hot tears start to run down my cheeks. I couldn't help it. The more I thought about everything that happened to me the more I cried. Now I was sobbing, thinking about Chris, and telling my parents about us, and Denny, and Teddy and Vern, killing Ace.

"I'm sorry, dad." I said between sobs. "I'm so so sorry."

"Why? What did you do, son?" Son. He called me son. I looked up at him, my eyes puffy red and glistening with my tears.

"I-I-I'm, gay. Now you will hate me even more than you already did. I'm such a fucking faggot! You were right dad! Just like you said! Just go ahead and beat me or whatever you're going to do to me! You'll probably just disown me or something, so i'll leave by myself. You'll see me at my funeral, I guess. If you even bother to show up! You never loved me anyway. You guys always preferred Denny over me. Oh, and by the way, I'm in love with Chris Chambers, and he's in love with me too. The entire town knows, and I wanted you to hear it from me first, so I guess that's it." I was sobbing uncontrollably now, and I couldn't stop it. I wished I was with Chris, so he could hold me, and kiss me and tell me everything was going to be alright.

"Get out of my house. Right now, Gordon." When my dad didn't yell, you knew that he was more mad than you ever thought humanly possible.

I got up from the table, and walked out the front door. I had to resist the urge to slam the door on my way out. I was still sobbing the entire way to the tree house. I didn't want to bother Chris with this yet. I was walking as slow as possible after one block. The ten-minute walk to the tree house turned into an hour long trip. When i got there, I heard someone talking. I could tell in an instant it was Chris. I burst into the tree house, and I saw that Chris was crying. He looked up at me and rushed over to me when he saw me sobbing hysterically. He enveloped me in a giant bear hug, both of us crying into each other's shoulders.

"Tell me everything, Gordie."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Gordie

I told Chris everything. I thought he would be upset that I told my parents he way gay, but he was understanding about it. One of the reasons why I loved him. There are about a thousand other reasons, but it would take too long to list all of them at one time.

"What are you going to do? Did your dad kick you out for good?" Chris sounded really concerned.

"I don't know Chris, I think so. I don't want to go back there though. My mom just sat there, like I wasn't her son anymore. Like she only had one son, and he was dead now." My violent sobbing had subsided, and I was calmer now. "Why were you crying, Chris? When I got here?"

"It's nothing compared to what happened to you. It doesn't matter anymore."

"Everything about you matters to me Chris. Why were you crying?"

"My dad almost killed Eyeball. He can barely move. He's in the hospital, with a broken neck, and a broken arm. He is entirely blue and purple, man."

"What do you mean that's not a big deal? Why the hell wouldn't it be a big deal? Is he going to be okay?"

"Why should I care? He's never done anything good to me."

"Because he's your brother, that's why. Anyway, let's talk about something else. Where are you going to stay?"

"I was going to go over to your place, but that's out of the question now."

"Let's just stay here for a while. After my parents go to work tomorrow i'll sneak into my room and pack a few bags, my school stuff, and my clothes and stuff. Then we'll go to your house and you'll do the same. We'll live in the treehouse. At least until your dad calms down."

"I guess that would work. Yeah, let's do it, Gordie."

We slept in the treehouse that night. We woke up around noon the next day. We headed over to my house and I packed my bags, and got us some food. I took some of my dad's money from his desk, just in case we needed it for something.

We talked all that day. About school, about stories I was writing, all kinds of stuff like that. It was one of the best days of my life, considering I had just been kicked out of my house because I was a fag, and my dad was too pussy to handle it. I had never felt better in my life.

"I have never felt better in my life. I feel so free, now that my parents aren't dragging me down." I said confidently.

"What the hell are you talking about? You just got disowned from your family. You are currently homeless living in a tree house with your loser boyfriend."

"No. I'm free from my parents thoughts about me. They didn't care about me. You do though. That's part of why I love you, Chris. I'm no longer held back by my parents. I can do whatever I need to do, now. I live in an old treehouse with my amazing, thoughtful, brilliant boyfriend who isn't a loser in the slightest. I love you man. I don't say it often enough."

Chris kisses me at moments like these all the time. It's part of why I do it in the first place.

"I love you too, man." he kissed me on the forehead.

None of our parents ever knew about the treehouse, and we planned to keep it that way. There were several windows, for keeping an eye on the street so we could hide if anyone was coming towards the tree. I saw my parents walking down that street looking worried. I guess they expected me to be back by then.

"Why do my parents look so worried? I've never been gone for more than a day without contacting them in my entire life." The sarcasm in my voice hurt my ears it was so obvious.

"Gordie? Gordie, where are you? Come home, Gordie, your father and I miss you." She was trying to make it convincing enough for the town.

She was looking for me. I wasn't leaving the tree house while I knew she was still out there pretending to look. I only just got there. She came back down the road about an hour later, looking defeated. I knew it was just for appearances, but it did look convincing. She almost made me feel sorry for her, but I knew better than to believe that.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Chris

The next day was Monday, and we both had to go to school, no matter how much we didn't want to. It was pretty normal, teachers yelling at me over silly things like improper grammar on my essay, or a misspelled word, or if I got one problem wrong during class. Kids still called me gay, and a faggot, all that stuff, but I had learned to ignore it by now. Gordie wasn't used to it at all. He had been to school, but not for a week since he killed Ace. He had been declared missing after three days, but no one was looking for him.

Some popular girl in the hallway accidentally ran into Gordie in between classes, and shouted 'EWWWW, I've been infected by the faggot! Get away from me, you're gross, man!' I told Gordie to just ignore her, but he wasn't listening to me.

"Is that your locker?" He asked politely, smiling his fake smile he did when he was really upset with someone.

"Yeah, why do you care, faggot?" she giggled at what she would call a joke.

Gordie licked his hand and smeared it all over her locker door. The girl screamed at him, and ran to her classroom, clearly disgusted by Gordie's actions.

"Nice going, man. Keep up the good work!"

After school we headed back to the treehouse to gather our things, then we went to my house. My dad didn't get off work until late that night, and my mom was out of town. Eyeball was probably out drinking or playing mailbox baseball with the other guys, so we had the house to ourselves until Eyeball got home. He was still pretty beaten up, but fixed for the most part. We mostly studied, to make up for all the work that we had missed while we were gone last week. We got bored of that after about an hour. Well, Gordie did, I got bored after about ten minutes.

We made out for a little while, and then for a little while longer. His lips tasted amazing. Even though they were chapped most of the time, and sometimes tasted like dirt, just the fact that I was kissing the love of my life made it amazing. I knew from the moment I first kissed him, I would spend the rest of my life with Gordie Lachance. I hardly thought about anything but Gordie. I didn't really care about anyone else. Not Eyeball, not Teddy, not Vern, sure as hell not my parents or Gordie's folks. Gordie was my only friend, and I liked it that way.

That night Gordie thought it was best if he slept on the floor, at least until my dad was asleep. Around 11:00, Gordie climbed into the bed, lying close to me. I rested my head on his chest until we both fell asleep. Then around four in the morning, I was woken up. I could always tell when Gordie was having a bad dream because he would shake his head a lot, and make quiet whimpering noises. He would start sweating, and his heart would beat really fast. Whenever this happened, I always woke him up right away. I couldn't stand seeing him suffer like that.

"Gordie, Gordie, wake up." I shook him awake, more violently than I had wanted to. He looked up at me, looking kind of scared. "Was it Denny, again?"

"No… It was Ace. He was alive. He told me what my dad always tells me in my dream. It should have been me, all that stuff. It was just, weirder than the other dream."

"Oh, how was it weird?"

"I think it was a sign. Chris, I-I think I need to tell the police what happened. Tell them what I did."

"Why the hell would you ever think about doing that?"

"I feel guilty about it, okay? I thought that if I didn't think about it, it wouldn't have happened at all. You don't get it, Chris, you've never killed someone before! You don't fucking get it! I need to do this, Chris, and i'm doing it whether you want me to or not. I am going tomorrow after school. I don't know if i'll come back to your place afterwards or not. I'll see how I feel about it later, okay?"

"This is the worst idea you have ever had ever! Are you going crazy or something? You are going to be in jail for at least 12 years minimum, probably more than that! You are going to be stuck here for the rest of your life if you tell the cops about this. No one ever cared about Ace Merrill, and no one ever will. Just leave it alone, damn it, Gordie!"

I could tell Gordie was furious with me. We didn't talk for a long time. He slept on the floor that night. He didn't get up once. It felt oddly cold without him there next to me. He didn't talk to me the next morning either. He tried avoiding me at school too, but I couldn't take it anymore. He left in the middle of math class, and I had to follow him. I caught up to him after about two minutes. I slammed him against the lockers, and kissed him. I could tell he resisted at first, but then he kind of sunk into it. I didn't care who saw it, even though the hallway was empty.

"What was that for?"

"You've been ignoring me all day. I had to do something about it."

"Get off of me, Chris."

I let him go. He just needed to cool off for a while. This happened sometimes, but never for this long. I didn't bother going to the rest of my classes. I went home, and thought about what Gordie would be doing in less than an hour. I realized that I would probably never see him again after that. If Gordie was right, if I was going to get out of Castle Rock, I knew that I would never come back. I had to go and stop him.

thank you guys for all the great reviews, I've read all of them. I'd also like to hear what you think could improve the story too, Thanks!


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Chris

I knew he would almost be there so I had to get moving. I sprinted all the way to the station. I caught him right as he was walking into the building. I pulled him aside to the back of the building. I had no idea what I was going to say to him, I guess that's why he's the writer and i'm not.

"What are you doing here?" Gordie sounded annoyed.

"Stopping you from making the biggest mistake of your life. If you go in there, and they arrest you, We'll probably never see each other ever again because if you're right, if I do get out of here, we both know that i'm never coming back. So either you go in there, and you spend the rest of your life in jail, or you come back to my house, we'll go to college, and live happily ever after and all that other good shit. It's your choice, Gordie."

I could see the pain in his eyes while he walked past me into the building. That was it. That was the last time I would ever see Gordie Lachance. I should have kissed him one last time before he left. I felt heartbroken. He had chosen going to jail over spending the rest of his life with me. I couldn't believe it. I started to walk away, when something stopped me. Something physically stopped me. It was Gordie, tackling me to the ground.

"Get up Chambers we've gotta go!" He had a smile on his face, but I could see in his eyes he was worried.

"Where are we going?" I asked with a stupid smile on my face. I didn't care where we were going as long as we were going somewhere.

"I have no idea, but we've got to go now, man, or i'll get put in jail!"

He started sprinting to my house at full speed. I don't think he'd ever run that fast in his life. I closely followed him, confused by his excitement. If he was running from the cops, I expected him to be filled with fear because of it. We got our bags, ignoring Eyeball's questions about what was going on. We ran right to the train station, just a few miles down the road. It was my idea to do it. If he was running from the cops we needed to get far away. We got on the next train to New York, across the entire country! I couldn't believe it. When we were about half way there, I started having some doubts.

"Gordie, this was a terrible idea," I started.

"Why would this be a bad idea? We are running away with each other. We've wanted to do this for a long time. When we get to New York, we'll enroll in high school, finish out the year, and then we'll be in college. Easy as that. Sure, I won't be writing my stories anymore, and i'm going to miss Castle Rock. Not so much the people in it, but just the place in general. All the memories there."

"That's why it was a terrible idea. I'm making you stop with your writing. I'm taking you away from what you love-"

"But Chris, you're what I love. Nothing else. Just you, and you're not making me stop doing anything. I'm choosing to stop writing for a while. I'll start again after we start college, but I want to discover new things to do, and I'm glad i'm going to do it with you. Besides, if I go back, i'll be arrested."

"I love you, too Gordie. Probably more than you realize. But I have to go back. This was a mistake, i'm sorry, Gordie. I'm sorry I dragged you into this."

"I have to go, Chris! I murdered someone! How could you do this to me? I don't want to go without you, but if I go back with you, i'll be put in jail until i'm dead! Damn it, Chris! I thought we were going to get through this together! I might as well go to jail, because that will be what it's like without you with me!" he was sobbing now, harder than he ever had before. At least when he was around me.

"I'm sorry, Gordie, I just can't do this to you. I know i'm not what you really want. I know you say you love me, but sometimes I feel like you are pretending to love me so I wouldn't feel embarrassed about it." I was sobbing, too now. I couldn't help it. "I-I just, I know it's stupid to think that, but I still do, sometimes."

Gordie looked at me through glossy, crying eyes. He wasn't sobbing anymore, just letting the tears roll off his face. "Do you really think that? Chris, I would never do that, to anyone, especially you. You should know that by now. You are all I want. I'm sorry I yelled at you, I just don't want you to leave me behind. I didn't mean any of it. I really do love you Chris. I'm not lying. When Ace shot you, I didn't think you were going to make it. I couldn't stand thinking about you dying, not even for a second. Every time it came across my mind I would start crying. But if you really need to go, then go. I'll understand eventually. Even if there is a great law school in New York, if you need to stay here, do it by all means get off on the next stop, and we'll never see each other ever again." I could sense the anger in his voice and tried to ignore it.

The train came to a stop a few minutes later. I stood up, kissed Gordie one last time, grabbed my bag and bought a ticket home. I could still taste his tears on my lips as I rode on the next train home. I was crying the entire way, but I didn't care what anyone said about me. I heard what they were whispering. At least they didn't know me. Around the third stop, a girl sat across from me. She had long wavy brown hair that hung down to her waist in a loose braid. Her eyes were a chocolatey brown, just like Gordie's. Her face was sprinkled with freckles. She was quite beautiful. I hadn't really noticed these things since I started dating Gordie.

"My name is Evelyn, but my friends call me Evie. What's your name?" Her voice was almost as pretty as she was.

"Chris," I mumbled.

"Chris, I like that name." she wanted to ask why I was crying, but she resisted.

"Thanks, I guess," I replied quietly. I didn't really feel like talking.

"You look like you need a book to read. Here, this one is my favorite."

She handed me the book. It was called ' **Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street: A Life of the World's First Consulting Detective'**. I didn't really read that much, I mostly just listened to Gordie's stories, and that was all I was interested in at that time, but she seemed nice, so I began to read it.

After I find a good stopping point, I decide to get to know Evelyn. "So, where you headed?"

"Just a place called Castle Rock," she replied casually.

"Me too, I'm from there. I can show you around if you want. I know every street of that place. Why are you going there?"

"I'm visiting my cousin. I don't like him very much, but my mother says to spend time with family." she rolled her eyes.

"Who's your cousin? I probably know him." Now I was genuinely interested.

"His name is Vern Tessio, he's about my age, a little younger, but just by barely a year. I think we've met once or twice, but that was when we were real little, like five or six. So do you know him?"

"Vern Tessio was one of my best friends up until about three years ago. After that we kind of drifted apart." I was shocked that Vern could have family members that beautiful. I really couldn't believe it.

"Well, maybe you guys will be friends again someday."

We talked the entire way back to Castle Rock. I almost forgot about Gordie. Then she asked where I was coming from. It all came rushing back to me. I almost cried in front of her again. Once was too many times already, so my second instinct is always to yell. I didn't want to yell at her, so it was kind of like I was yelling at her without raising my voice at all. It was weird. I explained everything to her, up to that conversation.

"Wow, you both sound like jerks."

"What are you talking about? How were we jerks?!"

"Well, for starters, you kissed him without knowing if he liked you or not, which is always risky. Then you guys completely ignored each other because you couldn't man up and talk about your feelings. Actually, you kissed him twice without knowing what he wanted. Gordie killed someone, then you tried to talk him out of confessing! If it felt like the right thing for him to do, then he was probably right. From what I heard, Gordie sounds really smart. Then on the train, you left him alone. Do you realize what a dick move that is, Chris? I mean, you guys are really great people, but you are jerks. But you are also meant to be together. I'll make sure that happens, and you are not going to stop me, you got that? You two deserve each other! You really do. Now, I don't believe in true love or soulmates or any of that crap, but you two are in love, and if you're in love, you should be together!"

"Do you really think you can do that, Evelyn?"

"Absolutely. And call me Evie, we're friends now." She smiled at me again. She had to stop doing that. I don't like getting close to people.

"That might not be a great idea, he was pretty pissed at me, and I had a reason to leave. I hurt him real bad, Evie, and I don't know if he can forgive me for it or not."

"When he sees you, he will forgive you, I promise. I do this all the time for my older sister. She's always having fights with her friends or her boyfriend, so I fix the problems. Trust me, Chris, I know what i'm doing."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Gordie

I couldn't do anything but think about Chris. At first I was devastated, but now I was angry. I didn't need Chris. He was the one who got you into this me by kissing me in the first place. If he hadn't kissed me, Ace and Eyeball wouldn't have shot Chris, and Ace wouldn't have tried to kill, me and I wouldn't have killed Ace, and I wouldn't have to run away on the train, and Chris would still be here with me. I was on the train for about another four and a half hours before I got to New York. I remember my mom telling me a long time ago that I had an uncle by the docks in New York. I wrote down the address for a story, but I never used it. It was in the journal I had brought with me.

I opened it up, looking for the address. He lived at 3369 W 11th Street! I just had to pay for a cab to get there and I was set! I yelled for a cab, and one pulled up right on the curb like in the movies.

" Can you take me to 3369 W 11th Street please?"

"I'll do whatever you want kid, as long as you pay me for it." the cab driver said gruffly.

I was there in less than fifteen minutes. I paid the driver and thanked him. I walked up to the door and knocked the secret knock to the treehouse. I didn't even know I remembered that knock. After about thirty seconds, a tall, thin man opened the door. I knew I didn't look like either of my parents, but they always said I looked like my uncle Gordon. He was like my exact look-alike. He was handsome, with a beard, and he was wearing ripped jeans and a baggy t-shirt. I couldn't believe how alike we looked.

"A-Are you, G-Gordon Lachance?" He was my dad's brother. He also had a brother named Dennis that he liked even better than Gordon.

"Yeah, who are you?"

"I-I'm Gordie Lachance. You are my dad's brother, right? You're Richard's brother?"

His eyes seemed to light up. "Gordie? Is it really you? I haven't seen you since you were a little baby! How are ya? Where are your parents?"

"They're not here. I ran away from home, but you can not tell them, under any circumstances, i'm serious. I rode the train here, and I brought all the money in my savings account, because i'm going to finish high school here, and they have a great college that i'll go to. If I get in, of course. I'm here because I was wondering if I could stay with you, maybe? If that's okay with you."

"Come on in, Gordie. Let's talk for a little bit."

I followed him into the living room where there was a huge yellow lab sitting on the couch. I sat down across from Gordon on the chair. I didn't spend much time around dogs, and I didn't know how I felt about them.

"Why did you run away from home, Gordie?"

"I'd rather not tell you all of it. I just met you."

"Well, how about you just tell me part of it. Is it because of you parents, other kids, your future, what is it?"

"It's all of that, really. My parents don't really like me at all. Denny was the favorite at home."

"How is Denny? He was what, three, or four when I last saw him?"

"Um, Denny died about three years ago. You didn't hear?"

"That's terrible, Gordie. I haven't talked to your parents in a while. I've been caught up with my books for the last few years. Enough about me, tell me the rest of your story. I'd like to know all of it, if you'll trust me," he winked at me as he said it. Nobody winks at me ever, besides Chris.

"Well, my best friend, Chris Chambers snuck into the house way too late one night, and my dad was pissed. He hid under my bed until my dad saw him. He wanted to punch him for always being in our business where he didn't need to be. He wanted to punch both of us. He was about to punch Chris, so I stepped in front of him, and we left. We were already going to leave, because Chris' dad hit him a lot. We went down the railroad tracks until we found a clearing, but we got into a big fight because- well, Chris had pretty much told me that he was gay, and I didn't say anything and he got really upset, and he almost got hit by a train because of me. I saved him from it, but then he kissed me and I didn't know how I felt about it, and-"

"Slow down, Gordie, I can barely understand you when you talk that fast. Just slow down a little bit for me. I don't think you're even breathing when you're talking."

"Okay, so where was I? I didn't know how I felt about the kiss, and then I decided that I did like it, and we kissed again, but his older brother and his friend saw us, and then he shot Chris in the shoulder, after he jumped in front of me. I would be dead if Chris hadn't been there. He made it, and when he got better, Ace tried to kill me, but I had Denny's knife, and I killed him, and-" I began to cry talking about this stuff.

"You killed someone?!"

"It was technically self-defense, and I didn't mean to. Anyway, let me finish the story please. My parents were out of town that week visiting my great aunt in Missouri. I didn't go to school the next week, and Chris stayed with me the whole time. We were dating then, and Ace had also told the whole town that we were gay, but my parents didn't know, and Chris' dad didn't know where Chris was. I told my parents when they got home, and my dad kicked me out, forever I guess. I lived in our treehouse for a while, but then I got into a big fight with Chris because I wanted to tell the police about how I killed the guy, and I changed my mind right after I told them, so Chris and I hopped on a train and halfway here, he got off because 'He wasn't what I really wanted or what was best for me or some stupid shit like that. Now i'm here, and I need a place to stay, and I wrote down your address when I was little and I kept it."

"You can stay here as long as you need to, Gordo, that's what my friends used to call me."

"Me too, well just Chris. You don't care that i'm gay, though? Everyone else has a big problem with it."

"Of course not, why would I? I'm gay too, so it doesn't matter that much."

"We are like, exactly alike, have you noticed that? We look the same, we are both gay writers, and we both hate my dad." I chuckled at the thought. I hadn't laughed a real laugh in a long time.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Chris

When Evie and I got back to Castle Rock, we went straight to the diner by the gas station. It was called the Blue Jay Diner, for reasons unknown, but they had damn good food there. After we ate, we went to Vern's house so she could say hi. I guess she was staying there, but I had to stay at my house or the tree house. Vern was really excited to see Evie again. He welcomed us into the house, and almost convinced me to stay for a while. I said no, and told Evie where she could find me tomorrow morning.

That night I went home to an almost empty house. Eyeball was the only one home. Dad was probably out getting drunk, and mom was working still. When I walked in the door, I was greeted with an angry Eyeball yelling in my face.

"Where have you been? Since you've been gone Dad's only been hitting me, we've got to even it out. He's been wanting to talk to you about you being a fag, you know? I can have that conversation for him just fine."

I didn't care what he did to me, as long as I could stop thinking about Gordie. Eyeball was weaker than usual, which surprised me. When he was finished hitting me, I felt his forehead. He had a fever, and he was paler than he usually was. I sent him to bed, and he surprisingly listened to me without a fight. Just then, the phone rang. I answered, expecting it to be the school or something, but I was surprised to hear Gordie's voice. It sounded different over the phone this time. Like he was older or something.

"Who is this?"

"It's Goride. I'm sorry, Chris. I didn't mean what I said when I was upset with you. I wish you were here, right now. I miss you. I'm in New York. I found my uncle's house and i'm staying with him for a while. If you want, you can probably visit me or something. Not yet, but if you wanted to. I don't want to fight with you anymore, Chirs. Can we not fight anymore?"

"Gordie, I never want to fight with you again. It was stupid of me to leave. I was being a coward, and I was acting dumb. I met a girl on the ride home, her name is Evie, and she's absolutely beautiful. She's also Vern's cousin! I'll send you a picture sometime so you can wonder how that happened. Would it be weird to ask if we're still dating? I want to talk to you every day, and i'll write to you every day, so if I'm not able to call you, i'll write you a letter. I miss you so much, Gordie, I never want to lose you ever again."

"I love you too, Chris. Of course we're still dating! What are you talking about? No wonder you haven't had any long-term relationships, if you break up after the first fight you have. I've got to go to sleep, and you should too. It's only a three-hour time difference. Goodnight, Chris."

"Goodnight."

"Was that your lover-boy?" asked Eyeball.

"His name is Gordie, and it's not like you even care, so what if it is?"

"I guess it's kind of nice that you have someone that still cares enough about you to call you after you've been a total asshole to them," he seemed to regret what he had said, cringing while he said it.

"You're drunk, go back to bed, man." I was tired, and didn't want to deal with him.

I had trouble sleeping that night even though I felt like I could sleep straight through next week. I couldn't stop thinking about Gordie, and how I was a total asshole to him, and how he still loved me, and how nice it was to hear his voice not yelling at me or crying because of me. When nicer thoughts came to mind, I finally fell asleep.

The next morning, I picked up Evie, and we went around town all day looking at all the things in Castle Rock. I almost showed her the treehouse, but I wanted that to stay in the group. Other kids had kind of used it over the three years, but it wasn't too bad, we would just kick them out most of the time. She was a really nice girl, and I probably would have dated her before I found out I was gay. Everyone thinks something turns you gay, they don't say that to me, but it happened a lot to Gordie.

"So i've been thinking about how to get you back to Gordie, and I figured it out." Evie seemed really excited.

"Really? That's awesome. I didn't have much time to think about it last night."

"The next train to New York is on Wednesday. We'll both buy a ticket, you'll pack your bags, and you and I will go find Gordie. You will finish your school in New York, and you will go to college with Gordie, and you will finally live happily ever after!"

"I don't know if that will work. I don't have that much money, and I wouldn't have anywhere to live. Gordie and I will probably go to different colleges, since he wants to be a writer, and I want to be a lawyer. It just doesn't seem like a good-"

"It will all work out, I promise. You go collect all of your savings, you have savings right?" I nodded. "Good. We'll buy tickets and leave Wednesday, you can live with me until we find where Gordie is. The law school is like a block or two away from the other great college that Gordie will get into, if he really is as smart as you say he is. It all works out. I promise it will work."

"Okay, but if it doesn't, i'm blaming you for it."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Gordie

Gordon is really supportive of me. Nobody has ever been there for me, besides Chris and Denny, but neither of them were there anymore. The school year was almost over, they were on spring break until Thursday. I didn't do anything that day except think about Chris. I hated that guy. That wasn't true, but that's what it felt like. Think about anything but Chris. I was already enrolled for the last few months of school. I didn't have much writing material, so I kind of just sat there while the radio played songs that me and the old gang used to sing.

I ate dinner that night, wondering what I should do next. I entertained myself with a new book that came out. It was about a detective named Sherlock Holmes. My uncle recommended it to me. It was very interesting, and I finished it in one sitting.

I watched old movies with Gordon, which was fun, I didn't really have any fun anymore. He could tell I was sad about what happened. I didn't want to talk about it, so I dodged all his questions with things that were happening in the movie. I heard a distant ringing from the other room. I shot up from my chair, and ran to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Is this Gordon Lachance?" It was a woman's voice. My heart sank in my chest.

"Yes, it is. May I ask who is calling?"

"This is Dorothy Lachance. Richard's wife. I was wondering if you knew where Gordie was. He's been missing for a few days, and we're worried. There are wanted signs all over town. Our son is wanted for murder!"

"I don't know where he is, sorry Dorothy, I'll talk to you later." I hung up the phone. I really thought it would be Chris. I wasn't expecting my mom to call though. Why did she call? She hadn't seen him in fifteen years. I wondered if he was the first person to call about it. The phone rang again not two minutes later. I figured it was my mom again, so I reluctantly answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Gordie, how are you?" Chris sounded way too happy for someone who I was in a fight with.

"Why are you calling?" I tried not to sound too mean, but mean enough so he would get the hint.

"I was going to see how you were doing, but it sounds like you don't want to talk about it."

"Yeah, you're right, I don't," and I hung up the phone right after that.

I went downstairs to tell Gordon what happened.

"Chris just called me, Gordon. We aren't talking to each other still. Do you know why he called me?"

"Okay, Gordie, sit down," he said reluctantly. "I called Chris' house last night. I didn't recognize the number so I called it. It turned out to be Chris, and you two needed to make up eventually, so why not then. He thought I was you, and you guys made up last night I guess. He said he'd call you around 8-9 every night. I know I shouldn't have done it, but something had to happen. You can't be mad at him forever. It sounds like you guys are made for each other, you know?"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "How could you? Why would you do that, Gordon? You know that i'm mad at him, and I don't plan on changing that, damn it! We don't 'belong together,' that's just made up bullshit because someone was feeling sentimental or something!" I was angry now. He kept trying to apologize when I was talking. "I don't want to hear it, Gordon! You had your chance to talk, now it's my turn! Do you realize how much he hurt me? I don't think i'll ever get over it! I had an idea to go to New York with him, but I only wanted to go for real if he went with me. He agreed to it, so we left. He left me on a train to New York with nothing! Except a broken heart. I sound like such a pussy right now, don't I? I don't want to see Chris. I don't want him thinking that I forgive him because I don't! Don't you understand that?! I'm going to bed, please don't talk to me in the morning."

 **Hey, I know that this chapter is a little shorter than the last few, so i'll try to make them longer. If you like this story then please review it. I'd also like to know some things that I could fix about my writing and the story. Thanks, I love all of the people that read my story. This is my first one, so I haven't really gotten the hang of it yet, but I probably will soon.**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Chris

I don't remember much about that Tuesday. I was thinking about seeing Gordie. I couldn't wait to get on the train. Then I started to think about what he would say about me being there. What if he was still secretly mad at me, but he didn't want to fight anymore? Evie and I boarded the train, and sat down next to each other. We didn't talk much, but I finished the book she gave me. I think it's my favorite book yet. I didn't read much back then, but that book was good.

The train ride seemed to last forever, but when we finally got there, it was amazing. New York was bigger than I had thought. Why hadn't I asked for his address on the phone? We asked everyone in the area if they knew a Gordon Lachance. Lachance wasn't a common last name, so we figured we had a pretty good chance. We checked around the college he took courses at, because he would probably stay someplace close to the college so there was less of a commute.

After a few hours, we started going door to door asking if they knew Gordie, or had seen him before. One house actually had useful information for once.

"Gordon? Oh yeah, he lives three houses down. He's a real nice kid, hope you find what you're looking for."

"Thank you so much, ma'am," we both said as we walked to Gordie's house.

We knocked on the door, waiting for Gordie to answer. After a minute or two, a tall man opened the door. He definitely wasn't Gordie, he looked like him a lot. Like what Gordie would look like at age 32 or something.

"Who are you kids? Why are you here?"

"Uh, is Gordie there? I'm one of his best friends, and I wanted to see him before I went back home. I'm going on college tours, and I knew he was in New York, so I thought i'd look for him."

"Yeah, he's inside, doing homework, i'll let him know you're here."

"And i'm Chris, you might have heard a lot of bad things about me, maybe not, but I need to talk to Gordie, as soon as possible if that's okay with you, Mr.-"

"Lachance. I'm Gordie's uncle, Gordon. He was named after me I don't know why but that happened."

He let us inside, and went to tell Gordie he had visitors. He was in the shower, so he said he'd come down after that.

"Chris, you might have gotten a phone call, a few nights ago, I wouldn't mention that to Gordie when he comes down here. Okay?"

"Why not?"

"It wasn't him who spoke to you. It was me, don't be upset, but I thought you two needed to work things out, but he doesn't want to do that. He's still pretty pissed off at both of us. I have good reasoning if you are angry at me. I told Gordie I wanted to talk to him, so he doesn't know you're here either."

"Oh," was all I said to him.

Gordie walked into the living room with only a baggy pair of jeans on. (All jeans were baggy on Gordie). He looked tired, but healthy other than that. His hair was dripping water onto the carpet, but nobody seemed to mind. He looked like he had gotten more muscular than the last time I saw him, (At least without his shirt on).

"What did you want to talk about?" he said flatly. He turned his head and was shocked to see me standing there. "What are you doing here, Chris?" Now he sounded angry. He was about to start a fight when Evie butted in.

"My name is Evie, by the way, nice to meet you Gordie. Chris has told me a lot about you. I'm excited that i'm finally meeting you," she held out her hand, so Gordie could shake it. He gave her an odd look, then turned back to me.

"I don't want to talk to you right now, Chris."

"Well I need to talk to you now, Gordie, and i'm going to whether you're listening or not."

"Gordie, why don't you go up to your room? I'll be up there in a minute."

Gordie ran up the stairs and slammed the door. After a few minutes, he took me up to Gordie's room. He had a plan, I wasn't so sure it would work, but I was willing to try it. He opened the door, shoved me into the room (gently), and locked the door behind me.

"Hey! Let me out of her, Gordon! This isn't funny!" He didn't look at me for about five minutes, when we were sitting in complete silence. When I looked at him, he would turn his head away from me. I was getting kind of tired of his attitude.

"Gordie, i'm talking to you, so listen up, if you really want to hear what I have to say. It was stupid of me to leave you on the train. I know it was. I should have gone with you. I'm so sorry, Gordie, I was a total asshole. I wanted to go with you, I really did. I don't know what I was thinking when I said-"

"Because you weren't thinking, Chris." He still wasn't looking at me.

"It's my fault you're in this whole mess. I'm the one who kissed you in the first place. None of this ever would have happened if I hadn't done that."

"Chris, i'm so glad that you kissed me that day. I never would have met the Chris I fell in love with. I know, that sounds pretty cheesy, right? You know it will take a long time for me to forgive you for this, right?"

"Yeah, I know," I stared at my feet until he started talking again.

"You left me on a train to New York. That will take at least a year, maybe two for full forgiveness. The bigger the mistake, the longer the punishment. I'm glad I talked to you today, Chris. I'm glad you came to see me. I love you." then he softly kissed me on the lips, and knocked on the door. "Will you let us out, now? I didn't kill him or anything. We're fine."

 **So when Gordie first got to his uncle's house there was a dog, and I totally forgot about it after that chapter so just pretend that I didn't say anything about a dog in the story. Please review, thanks**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Gordie

I was really mad at Chris a few days ago. I had realized since then, that he was just doing what he thought was best for us. He was wrong, but people are wrong about things all the time. Chris was staying here until the end of high school. Gordon wouldn't let us share a room, but it was just down the hall. Evie lived with her aunt in the neighborhood next to ours. She was visiting Vern coming from here, which worked out pretty well. She's a really nice, pretty girl, and I enjoyed spending time with her.

Today was Chris' first day of college classes in New York. Evie and I are going to show him around school today. I still had to walk to school like in Castle Rock, but New York is much more exciting than Oregon. Chris and I had almost every class together, and he had the two classes without me with Evie, so it all worked out fine. Chris caught on pretty quickly after the first few minutes of every class. He was smarter than people gave him credit for. I hope he realized that, without me telling him. I didn't really know if the New Yorkers were more accepting of gay people, but I wanted to investigate without ruining our lives in the process.

"Hey, Evie, wait up!" I called to her. "So, what do people here think about," I hesitated. "Gay people, like in general, do you know?"

"Oh, well, I don't know." she looked puzzled by my question. "I'll make it my top priority to find out for you and Chris." she looked pretty excited to be doing something other than schoolwork.

"Really? You would want to do that for us?"

"Yeah, I love you guys, you're my best friends. You're my only friends, really. And true friends are always willing to do anything for their friends."

"Wow, thanks, Evie. That means a lot to me."

I didn't tell Chris what she was doing. I wanted to surprise him with it. I told Evie that too, so she wouldn't accidentally tell him what she was doing. The rest of the day was pretty normal. When I got home, Gordon was waiting in the living room. He was watching some The Andy Griffith Show, but didn't seem to be paying attention to what was going on.

"Hey, Gordo, where's Chris?"

"He's just going to the library with Evie. I have a lot of homework to do, so I came here instead."

"How are things between you two. Did you finally work everything out?"

"I guess. We're cool, we talk to each other now at least, and I help him with homework and stuff. Just like before."

"Before the fight, or before you started dating?"

"Both. But i've never really considered it to be 'dating,' I don't like labels."

"Do you love him?"

"Yeah, of course I do." I said a little too quickly.

"No, I mean, do you really love him? Not like friendship love, like real love."

"Yeah, I love him. I've told him that many times. Why do you ask?"

"I think I'm in love with someone. I never have been before, though. How would you describe love, Gordie? What does it mean to you?" I was kind of shocked to hear this. I sat down next to him on the couch.

"Love means, you would do anything for that person. And I mean anything. Like, you would take a punch or a bullet for them, or you would stick with them even at their worst. You could spend the rest of your life with them. You look past their flaws, and eventually, they go away, and all that's left is this perfect person that you love. I know it sounds pretty sappy, but that's what it is for me. But I can't tell you if what you have for this person is love. Everyone has a different definition of love. You decide what that is for you, and when you meet someone who fits that description, I think you'll know."

"His name is Jason. We've worked for a few years, and we started dating a few months ago. How long did it take you to figure out that you loved Chris?"

"Since the moment he kissed me the first time. I didn't realize it before then, but when we kissed, it was like I saw a whole new world that I had never seen before. Everything changed after that." I heard a loud noise from behind me. It was Chris, and he had heard the entire speech. He walked over to me and kissed me. This kiss was different from the rest. I could tell his moods by the way he kissed me. When he first kissed me, I could tell he was nervous, the rest he was happy, except on the train. He was really sad on the train. I could tell because when he's sad, he kisses softer, but when he's happy he's full of energy and it makes me happy because he's happy.

"I didn't know you felt that way about me, Gordie." He said it almost in a whisper and smiled a real smile. A Chris smile. A Chris smile is a smile that is contagious to everyone around him. I started smiling, Gordon smiled, and Evie had a grin so big that I thought it would be stuck on her face.

"You didn't know I love you?" I asked jokingly.

"No, I just didn't know what your definition of love was." We were all still smiling, and we couldn't stop. That was the best kind of smile. A Chris smile.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Evie

I put all of my energy into finishing this project. I asked around town, I even started a poll at school. Most people didn't care about it, but there were a few who felt very strongly that being gay was wrong. I thought I didn't like those people before the poll. After about a week, I decided that it would be safe for them at school. There would be a few bullies and things like that, but they were tough. They could take it.

I went to Gordie's house that afternoon. I told him about the project, and he seemed really happy about it. He even hugged me. No one had ever hugged me before, except by my mom when I went to live with my aunt. I had forgotten what it felt like. It was nice, and comforting. Gordie was a good kid.

The next day at school, we had a test. I completely forgot to study! Crap, I forgot we had a test. I was never good at tests even when I did study.

I walked over to Chris on the other side of the room. "Hey, Chambers, did you study for the test last night? I forgot."

"Yeah, Gordie and I were practically up all night. We were going to offer to help you, but you left after dinner. The test isn't supposed to be that hard, you'll probably be fine. You're smart Evie."

He said I was smart. I smiled to myself. I was glad to have someone like Chris in my life. Just so we're clear, I don't have a crush on Chris. At least not anymore. I thought he was really cute on the train. He's a nice guy, and I'm glad to have him as a friend. I definitely don't like him in that way anymore. Even if I did, nothing would happen, he and Gordie are in love, and we're just friends. I couldn't concentrate on my test anymore. I was too focused on Chris.

When he was confused he made a really cute face. I was staring for too long. I think he was starting to notice what I was doing. I stared at my test. The more I thought about us never being more than friends, the sadder I got. After a while, I actually started crying. I've never cried at school before. Not even in front of my friends. My tears fell silently onto my test, messing up the words I had already written. At least nobody saw that I was crying.

Chris

The test was harder than I thought. Gordie and I hadn't even gotten to study this page it was so late. I mean, we were just making out for a lot of the studying. I looked at the clock to see how much time I had left. It was only 1:28, I still had time. As I turned back to my test, I saw Evie. She looked like she was struggling with the test. After a closer look though, I saw that she was shaking. It wasn't like Evie to cry, especially at school. I didn't want to embarrass her, so I was going to talk to her after school. I finished the test about 20 minutes after that, and was re-reading Sherlock Holmes. It was my favorite book, how could I not read it again?

My last class of the day was Math. My least favorite subject. At least I had that class with Gordie. After having to hear Mrs. Gerrick talk for 20 minutes I had to get some fresh air away from her perfume cloud that filled the entire room. I said I went to the bathroom, but I just stood in the hallway for a little bit. After about a minute, Gordie came out of her room. He walked over to me, slammed me up against the lockers with surprising strength, and kissed me.

"What are you doing, we might get caught!"

"I don't care. If I want to kiss you, i'm going to do it no matter where we are. If you're okay with that, of course." He smiled a goofy smile.

"What if someone sees us?"

"If they have a problem with us, we don't talk to them. Besides, Evie was doing some research for us, so it's fine. No one really cares at this school." he kissed me again. This time, two kids walked by us.

"I didn't know that you two were together," one kid said casually.

"Yeah, I never would have put you two together. I thought one of you was dating Evie or something." the kids didn't care that we were a couple, and actually sounded interested when they started talking to us.

"We've been dating for a while, we just haven't told anyone yet, besides Evie and a few other people." I said. "But we have to go back to class, so we'll see you around." Gordie and I walked back into class just a few moments before the bell rang.

We went to the library after school. I was looking for another good book I could read. We stayed to do our homework for a while too.

"What about this one? It's called "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," by Ken Kesey. It's got good reviews and it's a new release." Evie said a little too loudly. The librarian was not pleased with her.

"You guys keep looking, i'm going to go to the bathroom," Gordie said.

"Evie, come over here really quick," we sat down at a table behind a bookshelf.

"Why are we over here, now?"

"I saw you crying during the english test. I didn't want to embarrass you, but I need to know what happened. I was worried."

"You don't need to know, you just want to." I could tell she was dodging the question.

"Evie, friends tell each other everything. Will you please just tell me? Please?"

"Chris, I really don't want to talk about it, okay? It doesn't matter it's not that big of a deal."

"Yeah, of course it isn't a big deal. Just enough to make you cry in a public place. Fine, just, if you want to talk about it, i'm here for you."

Just then, Gordie walked back over to us.

"You guys ready to go?"

"Yeah,"

"Yeah,"

The walk home was almost silent. I stared at the ground and tried to kick the same rock all the way back to the house. I got distracted, and only got it about two blocks from the library. It had rained the night before, and there was a huge mud puddle next to the sidewalk.

"Hey, guys watch out for the mud puddle!" Evie yelled as she shoved Gordie into it. She had a huge grin on her face, looking like she had accomplished something great. Gordie quietly stood up, and walked up behind Evie. He waited a second, then pulled her into the mud puddle and stepped out of the way. She laughed, getting the mud off her face.

I was feeling excluded, so I pushed Goride back into the puddle, but this time, he grabbed onto my arm and pulled me in with him. It kind of reminded me of when Teddy, Vern and I were wrestling when we all got leeches. After a while, we decided to head back home. By the time we got there, most of the mud was dry, plastered to our clothes, skin and hair. We took our shoes off by the door, and walked inside. We could always clean them later. Gordie's uncle lived close to everything useful. The high school, the library, the grocery store, city hall, everything. When we got to Gordie's house Gordon wasn't there. There was a not on the living room table written in messy handwriting.

Hey kids,

I won't be home for a few hours after you get home from school. I will be home at 9:00 at the latest. There's dinner in the refrigerator. It's my first day at my new job. I went on an interview a few days before you got here, Gordie. I won't be this late every day of the week, mostly just Fridays. Don't do anything stupid, do your homework, don't answer the door if you don't know who it is, and don't burn the house down. See you when I get home.

Gordon

"So we're home alone for a few hours then," Gordie didn't sound too excited about it.

"You should be happy, have you been home alone before?" I asked.

"Too often, Chris. It's not like it made a difference if my parents were home or not, they never noticed if I did anything bad unless I broke something or got other kids into trouble."

"Can I hang out here for a while? I don't feel like going home right now. My aunt's boyfriend is kind of getting on my nerves. He's always there. He doesn't even live there." Evie sounded pretty annoyed with him.

"Yeah, I don't care, just let me know when you leave." Gordie said.

"Ok, hey is it cool if I take a shower, my aunt will be pissed if she sees me like this when I get home."

"Yeah, I think we all need to take showers before Gordon gets home too. I'll take one after you, then Chris can take one I guess." Gordie smiled at me, secretly bragging because he got to shower second.

After about half an hour, I finally got to take a shower. I realized that I hadn't had one in a long time, not since i've been in New York, even. I washed all the mud off, and washed my hair. The other two took really long showers. I can understand Evie needing too, since she has really long hair, but Goride probably didn't need a shower that long. When I got out of the shower, I found that my clothes had been washed and dried,and set on my bed for me. I put them on and went downstairs. In the upstairs hallway, I heard voices speaking quietly.

"I heard you and Chris talking at the library," It was Gordie.

"Gordie, I don't want to talk about it, okay?" Evie was the second voice.

"No, I think you just don't want to talk to Chris about it. Am I right?"

"Yeah, you're right." she sighed. "When I first met Chris, I had a really big crush on him. He was nice to me, and he was cute. I got over it for a little bit when we were in Castle Rock, until he told me about you guys. It was different when I thought I would still have a chance if I started liking him again, but now, I don't have any chance. He loves you, and you love him too. You were all he talked about. He showed me around town, and everything we saw, he had a story to tell with it. Like, when you guys were little you would play at this park, or you went to that school together. I was happy for him, but the more I think about not being able to be with him, it makes me really sad. Like, unbearable sadness. So sad that it makes me cry during an english test at school." She was quietly sobbing now.

I tried to get a better look at her, so I moved down a few more steps. She was leaning on Gordie's shoulder, and he was being a really good friend. He wasn't upset that she liked his boyfriend, he was just being supportive.

"Evie, it's going to be okay, you're one of his best friends. Without you, he wouldn't even be here now. You are a great friend, do you know that?" She nodded and looked at him.

"Thanks, Gordie, you're a great friend too." She wiped away her tears, and smiled at him.

I went back upstairs and read my book for a little bit so she didn't know that I heard what she said. I understood why she didn't want to tell me now. I went downstairs, and she was gone. I assumed that she left after she talked to Gordie, because she felt embarrassed about it.

I tried not to think about her for a while, and watched a few movies with Gordie. We ate dinner a while after that, and at about 10:00 that night, Gordon came home looking pretty exhausted. He was wet, dripping from head to foot. He took off his coat, and hung it on the hook by the door. He walked right past us, as if we weren't even there, and walked up the stairs.

"He knows we're home, right?" I asked.

"I'm not sure. Maybe, but he didn't look at us once, so I don't know." Gordie replied.

"Maybe you should see what's going on."

"Nah, let's leave him alone for a little bit. He seemed pretty upset."

 **Okay, so this chapter was really long, sorry about that, the next one is shorter than this one. If you liked this chapter please review, thanks**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Gordie

The next morning, Gordon still seemed pretty upset. He didn't look like he wanted to talk about it, but he did anyway. His boyfriend, Jason was taken to the hospital last night. He was having dinner with him after he got off work, and when they were walking to the car, he collapsed on the sidewalk and started convulsing on the ground. He called an ambulance for him and they were there in less than five minutes. He was taken to the hospital, but by then it didn't look like he was going to make it. He started turning a dark bluish color after a couple minutes. He was having a cardiac arrest. When he got to the hospital the doctors did everything they could to resuscitate him, but it didn't work. He was pronounced dead at 9:26 pm.

The doctors told Gordon that it was because of a drug overdose. It wouldn't have been as bad if it had only been one drug, but it was at least three. Gordon didn't even know he was doing drugs at all. He was devastated, and I understood why he didn't tell us last night. I was surprised he wasn't crying, but I guess he did that last night.

"Are you okay?" I asked. It was a stupid question, of course he wasn't okay. I wouldn't be either.

"I will be, after a while, i'm still kind of grasping the idea that he's not here anymore." he was staring at his coffee when he said this.

"Chris, we're going to be late for school, let's go. Gordon, that sucks, and it shouldn't have to happen to anyone. I'm really sorry."

When we got to school, it was pretty much like normal, but I felt like something was off. I went to a few classes, but after lunch it just got boring. I got bored all the time in Castle Rock, but hardly ever here. Back home it was different. Nobody really liked me, and they were always comparing me to Denny, and all that stuff so I had learned to tune them out long before Denny died. Chris and I got detention for passing notes. It wasn't anything inappropriate, it was just stuff like 'I don't understand what we're supposed to do,' and me explaining it to him, but I guess that was enough for detention in New York.

All of the teachers were in very bad moods. The ones that I usually enjoy listening to were rude and didn't let us ask questions, and things like that. I walked into the room where they held detention, the math room, and sat down next to Chris. We still had a few minutes until it officially started, but we still weren't allowed to talk at all. A few seconds later, Evie walked in, looking both pleased with herself, but also very disappointed. She took a seat in front of me and gave us a look that said 'I'll explain later,' or something to that effect.

It was only half an hour, but it seemed like forever. I suppose it was because I looked at the clock every two seconds to see how much time we had left, but that's not important. I almost fell asleep at one point, but my hand slipped from under my cheek and I hit my head on the desk. I tried to think about things other than school, like Chris and Evie, or Gordon. All I really wanted to do was go to sleep, but I knew if I did, i'd just get another detention the next day.

I thought about what homework I had that night, fifteen minutes left. I thought about what was on television that night, ten minutes left. I thought about what Chris and I would do when we got home, five minutes left. I thought about Castle Rock for the first time I had in a while. The dismissal bell rang, and we started to walk home. We didn't have much homework that night, so we decided to wait to do it.

Gordon stayed home that day, and didn't do much besides lie in bed all day. I didn't expect much else from him though. Chris and I made dinner for him, and brought it to his room for him, but when we knocked, no one answered. I knocked again, but still no response. I opened the door, and called out his name. I heard a noise coming from the bathroom, so I just set the plate on his bed and shut the door behind me. I didn't want to bother him too much.

Chris and I ate dinner for a while, but after that there wasn't much to do, and we liked to put off doing homework for as long as possible. We sat down on the couch talking for what seemed like hours. I checked my watch, and it was already 9:45. We went upstairs and started on our homework. We had a few math problems, and had to start an essay for our english project. Chris wasn't that great with English, so I always had to help him with it. He did okay with math, but English was his bigger problem.

We never really had any 'pajamas' growing up, I just slept in my jeans every night, without a shirt, and Chris did the same. We lied down on my bed, and Chris rested his head on my lap like he usually did. I traced my finger around the scar on his chest. I had almost forgotten it was there. I never forgot what had happened, I just forgot about the scar. He had lots of scars, all over the place. On his stomach and chest, on his arms, back and his face. Chris had a tough life, and I was glad I was there to make it a little better or him.

"I love you, Chris," I told him. I meant to say it every day, but sometimes I would forget.

"I love you too, Gordie." he looked up at me with his crystal blue eyes and smiled. I loved his smile. In fact, it's probably my favorite thing in the entire world. Whenever he smiled at me, all my troubles seemed to melt away, and it was just me and Chris, with no one else.

After a few minutes, I heard him snoring, his head now on my chest. Listening to him caused me to slowly drift off with him, not being disturbed until we heard a loud scream the next morning.

 **Okay, I feel like this chapter was kind of really boring, sorry about that, so I'll make the next one really interesting. Also, I wrote like over half of the story before I put in on the website, so i'm working on chapter 20 now, so it might be a little bit longer until the next chapter, sorry.**


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Evie

I got ready for school that day, and headed over to Gordie's house. When I was about a block away, I heard shouting. I ran up to his front door, but I was stopped by a police officer.

"What do you think you're doing, young lady?" He asked.

"M-My best friends live here, I just want to know what happened." I tried my best to stay calm, but I could tell it wasn't working.

"Who are your best friends?"

"Gordie Lachance, and Chris Chambers. Are they okay?"

"They are both fine, but Gordon Lachance, I believe that is his uncle, is far from okay. We're here because of an attempted suicide. That's why the ambulance was here. Gordon is on the way to the hospital right now, and the children are in the living room. I suppose you can enter, but not for long." He stepped aside to let me in. I sat down next to Gordie on the couch. He wasn't really paying attention to what we were saying to him.

"Gordie, are you alright?" I asked.

"I guess so, they said that he would probably make it, but he would have to stay in the hospital for a while. We have to stay with a different guardian until he's well enough to come back home, and we don't have one." he was speaking with a quiet, dull monotone, it was hard to listen to.

"You can stay with me, it's no problem, honestly." I said without blinking an eye.

"Really? Would your aunt be okay with that? From what we heard from you, she's not that nice."

"She's great, she won't care, and it's her boyfriend who's the asshole, not her. Honestly, she won't care at all, Gordie." I tried to sound reassuring about it.

"I guess that would be alright then. I'll let them know that we have a place to stay." He was still speaking in the same voice he was before. He slowly got up, and walked over to the officers.

I followed Gordie and Chris upstairs to their rooms, and helped them pack their bags. Even if they didn't bring enough, they could always come back to the house later. I looked at the clock above Chris' bed. It was already 8:45! We were late for first period, and that was the worst room to be absent in. The teacher was mean and didn't really like anyone in her classes. She would yell, and I think one time she even hit a kid, and convinced him not to rat her out.

"Hey guys, let's just skip, we're already late for first period. Let's go back to my place so I can show you around. My aunt is at work until 6:00, so we're good until then."

"Alright, how far away do you live, though?" Chris asked.

"It's not far, just a few blocks away. I walk here every day, don't I?"

"Fair enough," he replied.

We started our walk to my house just a few minutes after that. The boys complained the entire way there. It was little things like 'My legs hurt,' or 'you said you lived close by, this is not what close is,' but I told them that if they wanted to live somewhere else, they were welcome to. That seemed to shut them up for a while. I took the spare key from around my neck, and unlocked the door. I used to keep it in the flower pot that hung above the front door, but I thought it might get stolen.

We only had one guest room in my aunt's house. I was secretly happy that they were forced to sleep so close. Not it a weird way, but in a way that meant that I was happy for them, and i'm glad that they have each other in their lives, because not everyone gets the pleasure of getting to meet the person you're meant to be with. I don't know if that will happen to me, and if it never does, I think i'll be okay. I showed them the rest of the house, and the backyard and everything. They seemed to really like the house. The boys wanted to watch tv all day. I didn't blame them, all the good shows were on while we were at school.

I stayed in my room for a while, reading, or trying to. I had been watching tv all night last night. After a while I heard a soft knock on my door.

"Come in," I said in a voice barely above a whisper.

Chris opened the door, and sat down next to me on the bed. My first instinct was to move away, but I fought it. I wondered what he was going to say. I was kind of confused. Why wasn't he with Gordie?

"Hey Evie," he started. He paused after that, as if thinking about what to say next. He sighed and looked at me. "I heard you talking to Gordie the other day, I didn't want to say anything about it in front of Gordie because I thought you might get embarrassed about it or something. I just wanted you to know that I know how you feel about me, and-"

"Please stop talking, Chris." I was trying my best to stay calm. I was on the verge of tears just from those two sentences. "I don't feel like talking about it right now. Please leave, we can talk about it later." I could barely speak I was trying so hard not to cry about it. I never cried before I met Chris.

"Okay, well I guess i'll talk to you later then." he gave me a sympathetic smile, and left. After I was absolutely sure that he was gone, I started to cry. I didn't want to, but I couldn't help it. I have never felt this way about anyone before. I never even had a crush on anyone before Chris. And it just had to be Chris, didn't it. The one in a perfect relationship, with a **man** too. I dried my tears, and composed myself before going downstairs with the boys. I didn't want them to know i'd been crying. I wondered if Chris had told Gordie about what I said.

"Hey, my aunt will be home soon, so do you want to tell her the real story, or just make one up or something?" I asked as I walked into the room.

"I don't care what we tell her, are you sure that she'll be okay with us staying here? It could be weeks, you know." Gordie said.

"She'll be fine with it, I've told you a thousand times already, it's fine, Gordie." I was getting tired of him asking that.

My aunt got home about ten minutes after that. Her boyfriend wasn't there, thankfully, but I could tell she wasn't in a very good mood. Most of the time she is, but when she's had a bad day at work, she either gets angry at everything that happens, or she doesn't care enough about anything to do stuff about it. I was hoping that it was the second one this time.

 **Sorry I took so long to update the story, I've had a lot of homework, and I forgot about it when I started watching this new show. I'll try to update more often.**


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Gordie

I stood up as Evie's aunt walked through the door. I was kind of nervous about meeting her, considering all the stories i'd heard. She was tall, with dark hair like Evie, but she had blue eyes, not brown. She did have the pale skin and freckles, just not as many as Evie did. She was a very pretty woman, but something about her face made her look mean.

She looked right at me as she closed the door. I was, well, terrified. I thought she would do something to me, or yell at me or something like that. I sat back down, not wanting to draw attention to myself. She looked upset about something, but I couldn't tell what it was.

"Evie, who are these boys?" she sounded exhausted.

"This is Gordie, and Chris. Gordie's uncle is in the hospital and they need a place to stay, so I said they could stay here. That's okay, right?"

"For how long? We only have one guest bedroom."

"Just until his uncle is better, and they could use the air mattress, too. I think there's one in the closet."

"Whatever, just let me know when they leave." She walked up the stairs, and closed a door harder than she probably should have.

Evie turned to us. "We don't have an air mattress." she started laughing and sat down in between us. We continued to watch tv for several hours after that. It seemed like only a few minutes, but when I looked out the window, it was already dark outside. I looked at the clock, it was already 10:00.

"Hey, it's already 10:00, we should probably get to bed soon guys," I said, getting up from the couch. They followed me upstairs, and went into their room. I laid in bed, staring at the ceiling for a few minutes. I turned on my side, and eventually fell asleep.

The next morning, I knocked on their door to get them up. When they didn't say anything, I went into their room. They were still sleeping, cuddled closely next to each other. It was sweet to see them like that, but we would be late for school if I let them stay in bed. I turned on the light and shook them awake.

"Hey guys, get up, we've got to go to school today," I shouted at them.

"Is there a nicer way to wake up in the morning?" Chris asked himself sarcastically. When he sat up, the blanket fell off of him, revealing his muscular stomach. I know this is weird, but I wanted to just pet his abs all day instead of going to school. I quickly left the room after that, and started to get ready. Why did I have to like him so much?

We got to school on time, but barely. They wouldn't shut up all morning. They were in the stage where they were more comfortable being a couple now, and all they would do was talk, and kiss, and cuddle on the couch all day. It got to the point where it was annoying instead of cute. That day was pretty normal, until that night. Chris was in detention, and Gordie started to talk. A lot. He was going on about how he was going to do something really important for his and Chris' anniversary. We planned a really nice, romantic dinner with candles and all that shit. We had all of Chris' favorite movies in order next to the tv, and snacks for watching the movies. I wasn't going to do that stuff, I was going to listen to music in my bedroom and do homework. I can't decide who's night was better. There was another thing that he had planned, but I haven't gotten to that part yet.

Chris got home about half an hour later, and looked pretty annoyed. I went into my room where I had snacks, books, and water stashed so I didn't interrupt their dinner. I started on my homework for every class that I had, while they were in the dining room.

Gordie

I sat Chris down at the table when he walked in. He looked like he had a crappy day, so I hoped this would cheer him up a bit. We ate his favorite food that night- PB and J (Which I think is a little immature for someone his age, but I love him, so i'm going to eat it if he wants to have it). We talked a lot about school, but I was kind of tired of hearing about school all the time.

"Happy anniversary, Chris. Do you like it?" I was trying to change the subject.

"I love it, Gordie. Thank you so much for this." he smiled at me. I wish I could stare at it forever, but we had other, more important things to do that night. We talked about Castle Rock, and New York, and college and the future. To be completely honest, I was terrified about the future. I didn't like to think about it because it scared me so much.

After dinner, we cleaned up the dining room, and started watching the movies. The first one was called "12 Angry Men," which was a movie that I loved as well, so it worked out pretty well. Usually, Chrs liked to talk through the movies, but this time he was silent. I couldn't pay much attention to the movie however, I just kept staring at his face the whole time. He was a very handsome man. That was the first thing most people noticed about him in New York. I really wanted to kiss him just then, but he seemed really invested in the movie. I ignored my instinct to watch the movie, and I turned his face with my hand and kissed him.

"Chris," I started. I was interrupted before I could finish. He started kissing me again, for longer this time.

"What," he looked into my eyes, and I looked at his. They were sparkling. Not from tears, or anything, sometimes they just started sparkling when he was happy.

"I love you, you know that?" It was a stupid question to ask.

"Yeah, of course I know that, Gordie. I love you too." he started smiling.

"And you're way smarter than people give you credit for. You are brilliant, and you're nice, and funny, and sweet, and you're incredibly hot-"

He started laughing at the comment. He couldn't help it. I began laughing too after a bit.

"And you are absolutely amazing, Chris. There is no one else I would rather be with right now. I love you so much, Chris. I know I say it all the time, but it isn't enough for me to just tell you that I love you. I want to be with you forever and ever. You're my best friend, Chris. So," I hesitated at this part. I was extremely nervous. It was dark, so he couldn't tell, but I was blushing so much I probably looked like a tomato or something. "Chris, do you want to marry me? Not like this year or anything, but like, after college or something. We don't have to if you don't want to, it was just an idea, but if you want to, that's cool too-" He kissed me again. He was grinning, now, not just smiling.

"Of course, you idiot, what did you think I was going to say? Of course i'll marry you. I love you too. But, you do know that gay marriage isn't legal here? Or pretty much anywhere for that matter. That might be a problem."

"Well, we'll just have to wait until it's legalized then. We will pretend that we're married, and if it's never official, it will still be pretty much the same thing, right? We will get married in our minds instead then. It sounds kind of stupid, but that's like the only thing that we can do, so we should do it, right?"

"Yeah, absolutely. I love you, Gordie."

"I love you too, Chris."


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Gordie's dad

 **I'm so sorry that I didn't update sooner, I've been really busy with homework and family stuff lately. I'm kind of stuck on more ideas for the story, so if you have any just let me know, thanks. And sorry about the short chapter.**

sat at the kitchen table, drinking my morning coffee. It didn't taste good anymore, not since my wife had left me. She was so upset with me after I had kicked Gordie out of the house, but what was I supposed to do? It wasn't because he was gay. Well, it kind of was. He was yelling and cursing at me, like he didn't respect me, and I couldn't take it any longer. The kid was going to be out of the house in a few years anyway, but he was a disgrace to the family. He gave our family a bad reputation from hanging out with that Chambers kid, and the one with the crazy father, Teddy Duchamp. I just wish he was more like Denny had been. He got good grades, and had normal friends, and he respected his parents and everyone else like a decent human being should.

I didn't know where Gordie had gone, but I could tell that I would probably never see him again, or at least not for a long, long time. I didn't so much regret the yelling at him and being mad part of the conversation, but if i hadn't kicked him out, then I still would have been married. And of all the people he could have been with, he chose that good for nothing Chambers kid. And to top it all off, he was wanted for murder. My son, wanted for murder. Denny wouldn't have done that under any circumstance. People were asking me questions every day about if I knew where he was, or why he did it, but I honestly didn't know anything about it. I just know that he killed Ace Merrill, and he ran away somewhere with some other stupid kid. Just before he ran out, he said that he was in love with him. I didn't think Gordie ever loved anyone. He sure as hell didn't love me or his mother. He might have loved Denny, but I never paid much attention to him at all, even before Denny died.

I was off work that day, so I cleaned up the house a little bit, watched a little tv, but I felt like I was doing everything wrong. I'll admit it, I was a terrible father. Not so much to Denny, but I was terrible to Gordie. He didn't even do anything to deserve it. Before he murdered someone and told me he was gay, of course. Nonetheless, he was still my son. Despite what he may think, I really did love him at one time.

Chris

I loved Gordie so much in that moment. Even though he knew that it could never really legally happen in our lifetime, he still wanted to marry me. It was weird to think about it in that way, being married to Gordie. Goride, my best friend, who's been there for me through everything that has ever happened to me. I always knew that we would be friends with each other for the rest of our lives, but I never thought that it would be like this. I mean, we already lived together, and did everything with each other, so it was kind of like we were already married. Then I thought about Evie.

She must have been devastated about it. I hoped she would be okay. I knew that she was happy for us and everything, but that would stop someday. She would find someone eventually. She was really pretty, and smart, and nice, and she was an amazing person, and anyone who didn't like her must have been crazy not to.

The next day was pretty normal, Gordie was a whole lot happier than he had been. His uncle would be back in about three days, perfectly healthy. He would start seeing a therapist every Monday and Saturday, though, just in case.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Chris

Gordie was a lot more protective of his uncle after that, making sure that there was nothing that he would do to try to kill himself again.

We weren't planning on telling anyone about what happened on our anniversary. We were afraid that people would look at us differently. More so than they already did. No one knew besides Evie, and we didn't want to tell Gordon about it just yet, not until he was more stable. His legs were weak when he walked, and he didn't really talk all that much. Gordie wouldn't even let him get out of bed unless he was going to the bathroom or something like that. Gordon was kind of acting like a ghost, not really doing anything, walking mindlessly behind Gordie when he dragged him by his arm when he needed to go somewhere. It was kind of depressing to watch, really, so I tried to stay out of it most of the time.

Evie was trying to act normal when she was around us, but I could tell she was sad. Gordie had apparently been blind to that fact. It amazed me sometimes, how oblivious he was to the outside world. One time back in Castle Rock, Vern had been ranting on and on to him, for almost ten minutes and Gordie didn't even realize it. He wasn't doing anything while he was talking, he was just sitting there, staring at the floor of the tree house.

I thought about talking to her about it, but that wouldn't be such a good idea, under the circumstances. I would smile at her a lot, just so she would know that we would always be friends, no matter what. She eventually accepted the fact that it wouldn't be the same as it was before. Why would it be? Everything was different now. Gordie and I were unofficially married, we even had a fake wedding, I wore a white suit, and Gordie was in black. Evie did everything else besides officiating. Gordon pretended to do that for us, he was happy to. Evie even got a boyfriend after a while. His name was Jim, and he seemed nice and all, but I never really liked him that much.

Gordie and I lived in New York for about six years after we finished college. We moved to a big town in Oregon, but still very far from Castle Rock. We didn't plan on ever going back there. Once, a few years ago, Gordie and I were driving to this new restaurant in a different town, and we ran into his father. We both looked very different from when we were fifteen, but he looked older than I thought a person could. We tried to avoid any kind of contact, but the waiters sat us only three tables away from him.

The last thing Gordie wanted to do was talk to them, so he covered his face with his hair, (which had gotten quite long, his bangs almost reached his nose). He didn't look in their direction all night. He was still kind of nervous about being back in Oregon since he was, you know, wanted for murder. He was careful enough not to get too close to Castle Rock, or anyone he knew there. I don't think that his dad would recognise me, I didn't look at all the same as I did thirteen years ago. As we were walking out of the restaurant, Gordie's dad stopped us just outside the car.

"Excuse me, sir. Is this yours?" he asked Gordie. He held up Gordie's coat that he had left on the back of his chair.

"Oh, yes it is, thank you, sir." his back was toward him, so he didn't see who it was until he turned his head, flipping his bangs out of his face. His eyes widened at the sight of his father, then he quickly took the coat from him, and opened the car door.

"Sorry, is your name Gordon Lachance?" he stopped him from getting into the car once again.

"Sorry, but I've never heard that name before, actually." he replied casually, as he stepped into the car and we drove away.

That was the last time we ever saw Gordie's dad. He died a few years after that encounter, but we couldn't make it to the funeral. We got a black and white cat named Oliver after a few years of living in Oregon. He tears up the furniture, and plays with your shoelaces, but we still love him.

When I think about myself before I kissed Gordie for the first time all those years ago, I never would have thought this would be my life in the future. I always thought that I would be where I am today. I don't think Gordie did, either. I was the one who kissed him first, after all, and not a day goes by that I don't regret it.

 **Okay, so that is the end of this story, but I have another SBM one that I'm working on, I just don't have a title for it yet, so if you guys could help me think of one, that would be great. I'm also writing a Sherlock one, but I'm not even close to being ready to publish it yet. So if you guys want to read my other stories, they'll probably be published soon:)**


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